MedStar faces continued pushback from primary care providers in bid to open Skyland medical center

Tensions over primary care competition in two of D.C.'s poorest areas flared again this week.

At issue: Whether a proposed MedStar Health primary and urgent care center in Ward 7's Skyland development could put clinics in the area out of business or fill a important medical access gap.

As a District advisory committee again reviewed MedStar’s proposal, health system officials said the small primary and urgent care center would help other clinics meet demand in a city area that suffers from a severe shortage of doctors. MedStar officials pointed to a planned collaboration with Mary’s Center, saying they are willing work with other clinics in the area.

“We looked at, ‘Where are the pockets of need for primary care in the District?'” said MedStar Ambulatory Services President Bob Gilbert. “We were focused on where our patients are coming from. We want to take our services into a lot of areas where people live and work.”

MedStar Health has said it wants to expand its network of outpatient clinics to the District’s outlying neighborhoods, including some areas ignored by major health systems. The health system is seeking permission to build a primary care/urgent care office at the planned Skyland Town Center off Good Hope Road SE. The new $1.4 million clinic, part of the planned development anchored by a Wal-Mart, would sit within a mile of three community clinics — including two built with District and federal grant funding.

However, the D.C. Primary Care Association has raised concerns that MedStar is threatening the success of a District plan for where primary care centers are needed and have criticized MedStar for not communicating with care centers already in the area.

On Monday, a new health center — the Conway Health and Resource Center— is celebrating its grand opening in Ward 8. Other health centers in the area include multiple Unity Health Care locations and United Medical Center.

Those health providers might be harmed by growing competition from MedStar, D.C. Primary Care Association's Eric Vicks said during a meeting with the community.

“Our concern is where do [health centers] need to be,” Vicks said. “Is it necessary to have a primary care center in this particular area, and if we don’t, would you be willing to move elsewhere in Ward 7?”

Advisory committee members said they wanted to see more explicit communication and coordination before they would comment on MedStar’s proposal.

“Our concern is not this small primary care and urgent care center, but the entire MedStar network,” said Robert Brandon, chairman of the committee.

Gilbert said MedStar plans to work on a collaboration with the federally qualified Mary’s Center and will sit down with the primary care association while reaching out to other local health care providers.

“There’s no one organization who can do it all themselves,” Gilbert said.